Reliable electrical connections are crucial in high power applications, such as powering of heavy electrical machinery often used in the mining or petroleum industry, or connection of power transportation lines. In these applications machine cables transmit high currents at voltages of one or more kilovolts.
Typical electrical connectors used in the art have a plurality of pins or sockets each connected to a respective core of the machine cable. Depending on the specific application, the connectors must comply with specific requirements or standards. The compliance of the connectors with the relevant standards is examined by a certifying body.
The certification of a connector for a specific application does generally ensure that the connector meets basic safety requirements. However, known connectors still have a number of disadvantages.
For example, high power connectors used in demanding environments such as mining sites, are often subject to harsh treatment, especially when connected to heavy machinery. Machine cables may be inadvertently pulled during operation and this may lead to damage of internal components of the connector or the machine cable at the connector and/or loss of electrical connection with obvious implications for the operation safety.